Discovering Plate Boundaries part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Students work collaboratively using data maps to discover plate tectonic boundary processes. Data sets used are earthquakes, volcanos, seafloor age, and topography. Show other versions of this activity Hide The ...

Student-centered Experiments on Earthquake Occurrence Using the Seismic/Eruption Program part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Students select their own region of interest and interrogate the earthquake catalog to obtain quantitative data on the rate of occurrence of earthquakes of various magnitudes within their chosen region.

Extra Terrestrial Plate Tectonics part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Students decide whether plate tectonics is operating on another planet in our solar system. Requires students to integrate and process a large array of visual data regarding plate tectonic processes. Students feel ...

How do Faults Slip: Earthquakes versus Episodic Tremor and Slip part of Activities
A comparison of earthquakes and episodic tremor and slip using GPS and seismic data to illustrate how faults slip.

Plate Tectonics as Expressed in Geological Landforms and Events part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
This activity seeks to have students analyze global data sets on earthquake and volcano distributions toward identifying major plate boundary types in different regions on the Earth. A secondary objective is to familiarize students with two publicly available resources for viewing and manipulating geologically-relevant geospatial data: Google Earth(TM) and GeoMapApp.

Investigating Earthquakes: GIS Mapping and Analysis (College Level) part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Teaching with GIS:Examples
This is a college-level adaptation of a chapter from the Earth Exploration Toolbook. The students download global quake data over a time range and use GIS to interpret the tectonic context. -

A tour of the Mariana Subduction System part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
This lesson presents a brief tour of the Mariana subduction system, an active continental margin in the west Pacific.

From Ocean Topography to Flexural Rigidity part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
Students will use the available bathymetric datasets to test the utility of a flexural rigidity model of oceanic crust.

A Geologic Safari of the East African Rift and the Newark Basin: Why these areas are more alike than you know part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
This activity explores the similarity and differences between the Newark Rift Basin and East African Rift.

The Boxing Day Tsunami part of Teaching Methods:Teaching with Google Earth:Examples
Undergraduate students map data from the National Geophysical Data Center and the United States Geological Survey on Google Earth and study visualizations in order to explore the causes and effects of the Tsunami ...

Where is that chunk of crust going? part of Introductory Courses:Activities
I introduce students to GPS, frames of reference, and the permanent GPS stations in the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) in class, and obtain near-real-time data for two stations from UNAVCO. We use ...

Testing the Fixed-hotspot-moving-plate model part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Students examine hot spot tracks, magnetic inclination data, and coral data from the Hawaii-Emperor Seamount Chain to test the hypothesis that hotspots are fixed. Most students have learned somewhere that hotspots ...

Hotspot Lesson: Final Project part of ERESE:ERESE Activities
Students form groups to work on a assigned hotspot chain. Each group gets to study a seamount trail from around the world and needs to present 15 slides that each have 3 main points and one nice graphical illustration or image.

Hotspot Lesson: Mantle Plumes part of ERESE:ERESE Activities
This lesson introduces the theory of mantle plumes and possible ways of finding evidence to support the theory.

Geology Map Observations part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Students construct the Earth's tectonic plates using geologic maps. The jigsaw method of collaborative group work is used. Skills such as careful observation, presentation, and synthesis are used to create a ...

Finding the Moho part of Geophysics:Workshop 07:Geophysics Activities
This lab activity uses the Rapid Earthquake Viewer (on on-line seismogram viewer),spreadsheet software, and students' knowledge of seismic refraction principles to recapitulate Mohorovicic's classic ...

Izmit Earthquake part of Geophysics:Workshop 07:Geophysics Activities
This lab allows students to analyze earthquake seismicity from the North Anatolian fault using a variety of methods.

Petrography and Petrogenesis of a Mid-Ocean Ridge Lava Suite part of Petrology:Teaching Examples
This activity is designed to accompany a set of thin sections available from the authors. Students investigate mid-ocean ride basalt petrography and relate observed mineralogic changes to relevant phase diagrams ...

Scientific debate: Mantle plumes part of Activities
A structured format for a debate of the mantle plume hypothesis and alternative hypotheses with supporting materials.

Determining Mantle Temperature and Composition from Discontinuities part of Activities
This pair of activities uses observations of mantle discontinuity structure to examine mantle heterogeneity and differences in the depth extent of melt sources for ridges and "hotspots." The first ...